Jair Bolsonaro arrested after being considered a flight risk
The former Brazilian leader has been arrested after authorities determined he posed a serious risk of fleeing while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was sentenced of planning a armed takeover in last fall and sentenced more than 27 years in jail, but he remained under home detention pending legal challenges.
Top Judicial Official the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a preventative measure after recent developments emerged.
This involved trying to remove his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could enable a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a paperwork permitting the detention, Justice Moraes said data from the facility tracking Bolsonaro's house arrest suggested the former leader's plan to remove the tracking monitor to guarantee victory in his flight.
This, it said, would be "facilitated by the chaos caused by the gathering called by his son.
His son, his son Flávio, who serves as a congressional representative, called for a gathering of his backers near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday night.
His son wrote on digital networks on the previous day: Will you battle for your homeland, or watch it all from your mobile device there on your sofa? I call on you to struggle with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the reestablishment of democratic governance in our land."
Embassy Asylum Concerns
Part of Justice Moraes's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to foreign missions near the dwelling, considering that the inquiries revealed a background of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a statement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the US embassy in the capital, Brasilia, is located around 13km from the former president's residence.
Worldwide Consequences
The former president's legal troubles have generated frustration from fellow populist conservative US President President Trump, causing him to impose a half-rate duty on imports of Brazilian goods.
Bolsonaro is being kept in a Federal Police station in the capital and will have a detention review on the following day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on the previous day that the former president's lawyers asked the Top Court to allow him to serve his whole jail sentence under home confinement, with tracking devices.
They also requested that the former president be permitted to leave his home for medical treatment, saying he needed frequent medical attention for pulmonary infections and other ailments.
Details of Guilty Verdict
The former president was convicted of heading a conspiracy aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the 2022 election to his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Top judicial officials said that he was aware of a scheme which involved plans to assassinate the current president and his vice-presidential running mate, his vice-presidential candidate, and to arrest and execute Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing his judicial proceedings.
The plot was thwarted because it couldn't obtain the endorsement of the armed forces officials. His successor was sworn in without problem on 1 January 2023.
But a following week, on the eighth of January, thousands of his followers attacked and damaged official structures in the national capital, Brazil's capital.
The police stepped in and around approximately 1,500 persons were detained.
The justices found that the rioters had been incited by him whose scheme, they said, was for the country's army to step in, reestablish control and reinstate his authority.
At the time, his attorneys called the 27 years and three months sentence extremely harsh.
He was also barred from seeking elected position until twenty-sixty - a decade minus two years after the conclusion of his imprisonment.
The one-time head of state called the court case a political persecution and said it was intended to stop him competing in the next presidential race.